Estimation of radiation dose of coronary multislice computed tomography (MSCT) angiography in daily practice in an international, multicenter and vendor-independent trial.

Prospective analysis of cardiac CT angiographies enrolled over 1 month

Collection of 1 axial data set and the "patient dose protocol" (including kV, mAs, CTDI, DLP, etc.) on a CD

Dose estimation in dose/cm with the use of a method proposed by the European Working Group for Guidelines on Quality Criteria in CT.

Assessment of diagnostic, qualitative image quality on a per-vessel basis by the participating study sites and in randomly selected cases by the primary study investigators (approximately 5-10% of patients to "spot check" interobserver variability of image quality assessments)

Assessment of image quality with the use of quantitative parameters including image noise, signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios

Inclusion Criteria:

• assessment of coronary arteries
• acute chest pain or "triple rule out"
• evaluation after PCI (stents)
• evaluation of bypass grafts
• before or after EP study
• cardiac anomalies

Exclusion Criteria:

• pregnancy
• contraindications against contrast media

patients with indication for cardiac imaging by MSCT